One of my favorite films from Sundance, Phoebe in Wonderland, is set to open the 10th RiverRun International Film Festival, according to indieWIRE. The film, which stars Elle Fanning, Felecity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson and Bill Pullman, is about Phoebe (Fanning), a little girl struggling with behavioral problems and relating to others.

Phoebe finds hope through her eccentric drama teacher (Clarkson), who casts her as the lead in the school's production of Alice in Wonderland. Meanwhile her parents (Huffman and Pullman) struggle with balancing their work with their family life, and with accepting that raising their daughters to be creative and non-conformist also means accepting Phoebe as she is, and helping her navigate her way through the world.

Here we go again. In the never-ending ping-pong match of rumors between Lindsay Lohan and the media, the actress is opening up about her "bad behaviour" on the set of Georgia Rule. This all started back during production of the "chick-friendly" family drama starring Lohan, Jane Fonda, and Felicity Huffman. Talk of an uneasy set and trips to the emergency room culminated in a public scolding of Lohan by producer James G. Robinson, who stated in a letter that Lohan had "acted like a spoiled child and in doing so have alienated many of your co-workers and endangered the quality" of "Georgia Rule.' Lohan recently spoke with Allure saying, "It upset me because I was a bit irresponsible. I didn't think about the consequences, but I was also going through something in my life."

But at the time, like most of Lohan's unflattering PR, the actress kept relatively quiet about the whole thing and had returned to work quietly to finish the film. And the results? Reactions to the film weren't great, and while it was not a break-out success, I think everyone managed to walk away with their dignity intact. Lohan might have a chance of getting the gossip headlines out of her reviews, she seems to have redeemed herself with her upcoming thriller I Know Who Killed Me with Chris Sivertson . Already the director has been praising her work -- which was never really the problem, and more importantly her work ethic. So far, there has only been a few glimpses of a poster and some photos. Set for release in July, hopefully Lohan can keep herself out of the headlines until then.

I had always really liked Felicity Huffman, one half of Hollywood power couple Filliam H. Muffman, as an actress. And then I saw her screeching, ridiculous work in the screeching, ridiculous movie Georgia Rule. I'm usually pretty forgiving for such cases of bad judgment -- but I just can't let this one slide. I'm going to need a couple great performances from Huffman to scrub miserable scenes like her roadside freakout in Rule from my mind. Hopefully she'll redeem herself in Phoebe in Wonderland, a comedy from first-time director Daniel Barnz (incorrectly listed as Ben in the Variety article announcing the film), who also wrote the screenplay. Huffman will join Patricia Clarkson, Bill "Not Paxton, dammit, it's Pullman!" Pullman, and Elle "Not Dakota, dammit, it's Elle!" Fanning for the movie.

Fanning will play "a rebellious little girl who clashes with the rule-obsessed authority figures in her life. She seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher," played by Clarkson. The announcement doesn't give further details, but if I had to guess, I'd wager Huffman and Pullman play Fanning's strict parents, and that her teacher helps her use her imagination to expand her horizons? Barnz, who apparently loves movies with the word "land" in the title, also wrote Sugarland, an upcoming lawyer drama about exploited migrant workers with Robert DeNiro and Jodie Foster. Foster will also direct that one. And let me just use this space here at the end of the article to beg you not to see Georgia Rule. Unless you're a fan of child molestation humor, there's better ways to spend your hard-earned cash. For shame, Huffman!

The drama Georgia Rule just plain doesn't work. At times, it feels like a Lifetime movie-of-the-week, but with a cast that far outclasses the genre. At times, you can see hints of an indie film-wanna-be style, but the characters and setting are too superficial, and the plot twists are too predictable and pat. Even the performances from an experienced cast don't add much life to the film -- in fact, if the performances had been worse, at least the film could have worked as a gloriously tacky melodrama. Instead, the film is a tedious yawn with only a few bright spots.

Wild-child Rachel (Lindsay Lohan) is sent to live with her grandmother Georgia (Jane Fonda) for a few months before she heads off to Vassar, since her mother Lilly (Felicity Huffman) and stepdad Arnold (a sadly unrecognizable Cary Elwes) don't know what else to do with her. Georgia's iron-clad household rules (thus the title) cannot entirely thwart Rachel as she inflicts her brand of chaos on the small Idaho town, including the hot-but-devout-Mormon teen Harlan (Garrett Hedlund) and the older vet for which she ends up working, her mom's ex-boyfriend Simon (Dermot Mulroney). When Rachel confides something personal and devastating to Simon, all hell breaks loose and Lilly is forced to return to her estranged mother's house, where all three women have to learn to deal with one another. Or not.

Following the newly-released trailer, a new one-sheet and a few pics have surfaced for Universal's upcoming Georgia Rule, featuring Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman and Lindsay Lohan, as herself. Okay, so Lohan isn't exactly playing herself, but she will be taking on the role of a rebellious, uncontrollable teenager -- which, as we all know, isn't too much of a stretch for the young actress. Definitely not as controversial as the last set of pics (let's just say La Lohan was searching for something between the legs of her on-screen boyfriend), these new images show us the three ladies in a variety of dysfunctional poses.

Directed by the family-friendly Garry Marshall (who hasn't helmed an R-rated movie since 1994's Exit to Eden), Georgia Rule revolves around three women (grandma, mother and daughter) who must find a way to reconcile their differences and come to terms with the secrets of their family's past when an accident forces all three to live under the same roof. It's a bit more risque than Marshall's last directorial effort, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, but keep in mind this is the same guy who also brought us Pretty Woman and -- one of my personal favorites -- The Flamingo Kid. Heck, if Marshall can create a lovable, charismatic, girl-next-door prostitute, I'm sure he'll do wonders with Lohan. With a script written by Mark Andrus (who's quite familiar with females and family, having penned the adaptation of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood), Georgia Rule hits theaters on May 11.

While it might have seemed like Georgia Rule was going to fall under the whims of La Lohan, it's actually all wrapped up in a pretty trailer bow that has just been released exclusively to Moviefone. If you kept even half an eye on movies news and gossip last summer, you should remember all the troubles that Lindsay Lohan had with the Garry Marshall film. First, cavorting around as a big-city nymphette in the film made the poor redhead collapse with heatstroke. Or rather, partying like a wild child did, sending producer James Robinson into outrage, inspiring him to write a letter that said: "We are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real reason for your so called 'exhaustion'. We refuse to accept bogus excuses for your behavior."

Nevertheless, the movie wrapped and we get to see Jane Fonda on the screen once again. The premise sounds typical for a movie, but man, I wish it was true. Rule follows Rachel (Lohan), an uncontrollable teen who is brought to her grandmother's house by her dysfunctional mother Lilly, played by Felicity Huffman. There, she has to live under Grandma Georgia's rules, and exist in a small, Mormon Idaho town. If only movies were real, and Lindsay actually had to do this! The trailer has all the key bits of comedic melodrama -- the love interests, finding the error of your ways, so on and so forth. If you watch carefully, you'll even see that the thicker-in-the-face blonde man who gets beaten with the bat is none other than Cary Elwes, so if Lohan getting paid to be herself is not enough for you, at least there is some Wesley in the mix!

Here's some bits and bites for you to chew on:

• If you're like me, you've been anxious for Allan Moyle to get back to his deliciously cult Pump up the Volume roots, which it seems he has, with his Canadian film, Weirdsville. After opening the Slamdance Film Festival, the U.S. rights to the flick have been picked up by Magnolia Pictures. The movie follows two heroin addicts (Scott Speedman and Wes Bentley) who almost bury an almost-dead junkie (Taryn Manning), have a run-in with Satanists* and a mob of little people....and a drug lord. The Hollywood Reporter has more info on the deal, and the film's website has got a trailer and other goodies. And yes, that's Bentley in the picture to the right, sporting lots of fu-facial hair.
• In December, Chris brought us news of Topher Grace's upcoming movie, Kids in America. Now Venom finally has some co-stars. The pic follows Grace as a recent college who tries to nab his paramour at a crazy party while dealing with his on-coming adulthood -- as any good coming-of-age story should. Scary Movie's Anna Faris has been cast as Grace's twin sister, Dan Fogler -- that wild-haired ping ponger from the upcoming Balls of Fury -- will play the best friend and Australian actress Teresa Palmer gets to be Grace's dream girl.
• Ms. Felicity Huffman, Transamerica star and desperate housewife, is now an author. She's penned A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend: For Every One Who Wants to Be One/For Every Girl Who Wants to Build One with Patricia Wolff, which was launched in LA on Monday. This super-short titled book gives advice on how to be a good boyfriend "while still maintaining guy-dignity." Anyone want to make bets on how long it will be before this gets adapted into a really, really bad film?

*Thanks to Kirby for the good catch! While a group of Satinists would be interesting, this mob is of the Satan variety.

Don't get me wrong, I think Felicity Huffman is a great actress, but I never really understood why people liked Desperate Housewives so much. I dropped in and out of the series during the first two seasons and I could never get into it, which is saying something considering how addictive my TV viewing habits can be.

It looks like Huffman is making a smooth transition into more full time movie gigs. Variety announced that Huffman has been signed to star in the film version of the British miniseries The Politician's Wife. The original story was about the wronged wife of a charismatic MP, who quietly plots her revenge against her husband and his cronies. I'm assuming there will have to be some changes to the script since I can't see Huffman doing an accent.

The series was produced for Channel 4 in the UK and included Minnie Driver, as a high-end escort. I remember seeing the series years ago on PBS and I was pretty entertained by the whole thing, and nobody does reserve and repression like the British. Nicholas Meyer, who has some experience with adaptations, having adapted Philip Roth's The Human Stain, wrote the script and Bob Berney is on board to direct. So even if the movie is just another Hollywood re-hash, for me, it beats the shenanigans of Wisteria Lane any day.

[via JoBlo.com]

Is there anyone reading who wasn't aware that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were just married in Italy? If so, I envy your imperviousness to celebrity news. The rest of us have been hearing all week about possible locations for the wedding, who was or was not on the guest list, what the ceremony might be like, what they've been wearing around town ... and other speculation that is not really suitable for polite discussion. I believe I have heard more about their wedding than some of my relatives' ceremonies. No clear and interesting photos are yet available from the big event, so you'll just have to imagine what happened and how everyone looked ... if you're that interested.

After much scouring of websites, desperate for gossip and news not related to the couple, I did manage to find a few items of interest:

• One related item: Defamer took a close look at the "For Your Consideration" ad for Thank You For Smoking and notes that a single cast member is absent from the list: Katie Holmes. Later, they learned that Holmes may have pulled herself from consideration.

With the overblown media attention given to the Tom Cruise/Paramount story, some outlets have been running pieces on current celebrity behavior in general. Mostly there's been the tying in of Mel Gibson's arrest and anti-semitic rant and of Lindsay Lohan's warning memo from Morgan Creek. For anyone to be asking, "what is up with Hollywood?" seems to be stretching three incidents pretty thin to cover the entire industry, but, hey, when does the media worry about their generalizations?

Anyway, of all the people to chime in on the issue of actor etiquette, William H. Macy and his wife, Felicity Huffman, are probably the most random. But they have each worked with Lohan recently and must have had a discussion about the difficulties of working with her. Macy co-stars with her in Bobby and Huffman saw the whole Morgan Creek events first-hand by co-starring in Georgia Rule. According to CelebrityWeek.com, Macy is speaking out about Lohan, saying that she and anyone behaving like her should be fired. He also said they should, "have their asses kicked." As for Huffman, she apparently speaks highly of the actress' talents, but agrees that she is, "very, very disrespectful."

I guess if she couldn't act and behaved inappropriately then she really would have no reason to be cast, but behavior has never been a priority over talent in the movie biz. There have been problems with stars since the beginning of Hollywood. Often it is the best actors and actresses who are known for being erratic, reckless, drugged or something else. I guess Macy and Huffman are just unique in that they are great and perfect, too.

[via Fark.com]